Francis Thompson is widely recognized as a poet whose poems and literal works were a clear depiction of a world full of splendor, a universe parallel to the one we know. His most acclaimed poem is “The Hound of Heaven”, which saw his writings being appreciated by the masses before his death. His works represent a mixture of the mystical and the natural. Some people have claimed that he was obsessed with death, because he wrote about pagan and witch sacrifices. Modern scholars associate this with his addiction to opium. Biography Francis Thompson was born to parents who had a strong religious background as Catholics in 1859 (Chilton par. 1). Francis contracted a lung infection which caused him to take medical opium as a painkiller. Francis later became addicted to drugs, an addiction that almost saw him ruin his life. Francis Thompson had been raised in the Catholic Church, and as he grew up he enrolled at Ushaw College to train as a priest. His efforts to become a priest were in vain and he decided to take on his father's role and try medicine (Chilton par 1). He was admitted to Owens College and separately took the final examinations to qualify as a surgeon. However, Francis failed each time and, in the long run, gave up. He then went to London to try to find work. He was unable to hold down a job for very long, this may be attributed to his opium addiction. He was formerly a shoemaker, then, due to lack of means of support, he sold matchboxes and participated in other menial work. For most of 1886 until 1888 he was homeless and sometimes begged for food on the streets of London. It was at this time, when he was destitute, that he sent his work to a newspaper which published..... . middle of paper ......f Ottawa, 1952Husain, Itrat. The mystical element among the metaphysical poets of the 17th century. New York: Bibo & Tannen Publisher, 1948O'Connell, Marita. Francis Thompson, the poet of modern Catholicity. Loyola University Chicago. (1941) Retrieved March 8, 2014 from http://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/298Meynell, Everard. The Life of Francis Thompson. Charleston: BiblioBazaar, 2009 Thompson, Francis. The Night of the Ancients. Retrieved March 8, 2014, from http://www.oldpoetry.com/Francis_Thompson/From_The_Night_Of_ForebeingThompson, Francis. An anthem of the Earth. Accessed March 8, 2014, from http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/45894/Thompson, Francis. The Dog of Heaven. Retrieved March 8, 2014, from http://www.oldpoetry.com/Francis_Thompson/The_Hound_of_HeavenWoollen, C J. The Hound of Heaven. The Irish monthly. 77(913), 1949, 332-35